By Amaka Abayomi

WESTERFIELD Collegein partnership with the government of Canada, has launched the Canada FoundationProgramme, CFP, aimed at offering more Nigerian students opportunities to study in the North American country.

Mr. Marc-Andre Savage, First Secretary, Canada Deputy High Commission, who represented the Deputy High Commissioner, said the partnership is to cement the synergy existing Nigerian and Canadian schools.

His words “As at 2016, there were over 10,000 Nigerian students in various Canadian institutions. This is because Canada is in the top three countries to live in and quality education is our main focus as these schools are manned by people who are passionate about education. Selling Canada as the preferred study destination would help us achieve our goal of providing top notch and internationalising education for Nigerians.”

On how the partnership would work, the CEO, Westerfield College, Mr. Mike Dosumu, said students would do one year with Westerfield then proceed to complete the remaining three years in Canada.

Education destinations

He said “Canada is understated but is one of the best countries in the world and is ranked as one of the top three education destinations. Instead of selling Canada as a destination, we would get students to do one year in Nigeria and three years in Canada. This way, we would help parents save over 50,000 Canadian dollars.”

On why Canada, the vice president, North West Community College, Canada, Mr. Justin Kohlman, said the quality of education and safety of students are two of the top reasons why people choose to study in Canada.

He said “The Canadian education system is such that the first two years are spent at the colleges while the remaining two years are at the varsities. But if you do one year with Westerfield College, you now spend one year at the college and two at the varsity in Canada. We do most of our learning outside the classroom to complement what is being taught and the teachers know each student by their names and have their phone numbers. Students also have the opportunity to complete the last two varsity years outside Canada.”